Automatic gate.



A. WILLIAMSON. AUTOMATIC GATE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 19M.

1',152,999. Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

A. WILLIAMSON.

AUTOMATIC GATE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19, I914 Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

A TTOB/VEYS '5q-having connections with the post. Dto

I "in ATES OF E j ADRIAN WILLIAMSON, 0F MON TICELLO, ARKANSAS.

AUTOMATIC GATE.

Be it known that I, ADRIAN WILLIAMSON,

. a citizen of the United States, and aresi dent of Monticello, in the county of Drew and State of Arkansas, have invented an Improvement in-Automatlc Gates, of which the following is a specification, 7

My present invention relates generally 'to automatic gates and more particularly to that ty-pe ofgate which is designed to beeperated by road-side mechanism depressible under the weight of vehicles and pedestrians so as to both open and close the gate when passing the same in either direction.

The various objects of my invention reside in, and the advantages result from, the Y particular construction, arrangement and operation of the several parts to be now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the several parts of my invention, the gate beingshown closed. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the entire gate-way,

parts thereof being broken away in order to better illustrate the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is Ia vertical section through. the

lower portion of thelatch post, taken sub- .stantially on'line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan illustrating the rela'-' tive arrangement of the gate, its several posts and the road-slde actuating mechanisnnand Fig. 5 is a sectional detailelevav.tion of one of the track-side operating mechanisms partly broken away.v

Referring now to these figures it will be seen that Iprovide a gate A hinged to a hinge post B to swing between the latch post C and the stop post D, the former being upon the relatively opposite side of the roadway E from the hinge post B and the latter being on the same side of the road and spaced from the hinge post the same distance'as the latch post C. w

' The road-side actuating mechanisms are arranged in pairs at the sides of the roadway E upon opposite sides of the gateway and suitably remote therefrom, the mecha-" Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Patented Sept; 7,:1 9 1 5i;

Application file d liTo vember 19, 1914.. seriai'no. 872,993.

release and move thegateA from the stop post D. Within the lo-wer portions o-fth e latch stop posts'G and D are mounted certain parts and connections which are identical so'that' a description of the parts and-mnnections of latch post G will suflice to girl e a .clear 'understanding of both. As will be seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 thepost carries aniinternal lower transverse'sha'ft c which is'pr'ovided at this end with a lateral arm c.-and with upright and depending arcs C to the latter of whiclrale secured the flexible connections C leading from the roadside mechanisms C and C NVit'hin the latch post C which is hollow and similar incon'str'uction to the stop "post D, shaft 0 has' its lateral arm a connected'bya "vertical connecting rod 0 with oneendofan' arm f inter-mediately securedupon a transverse shaft. f, 1 transversely" jour'nal'ed? through the post a distance above the shaft 0 and having an -e'Xteri-orly projecting.

endtowhi'ch is securedthe iower alder on chored within the upper "portion-of the post C- As thus far described,the posts C aIidD are identical in construction and arrangement, the latter having a gate moving arm. H, as seen in Fig. 1, which is internally connected and controlled in the same manner as. described in connection with the gate mov 1 ing arm F of the postC. The latch post G is also provided with a transversely 'jour naled shaft 2', one end of which projects ex teriorly and carries aswinging latch menr her I for engagement with the latch piece a of the gate. This shaft ihas" an intermediate laterally eXtendi-ng crank arm 2'" within the post, the endof whichis connected, by

an upwardly extending chain 71 to the other end of the intermediatelyconnected crank armf, and toWhich end of crankiarm i is also connected the downwardly extending springi the lower endof which is anchored within the post as atc't The stop post 'D also hasa latch member similar to'the latch" post C inasmuch as it is desirable that the gate be latched in open as wellas closed po- 7 sition. Thus when the connections C of the stop post are pulled so as to lower the shaft arm 0, the gate moving arm F engages the upright spring strap A, and forces the upper free portion of this strap some distance in the direction toward which the gate is to be moved, and before the latch I is released. The latch then releases due to the pull of the chain i and the gate is forced smoothly but rapidly in the direction in which it is to be moved, by the combined force ofthe recoiling spring strap and the directsweep of the arm F against the said spring strap. Due to this construction the gate is given practically the same force of movement where the vehicle passes slowly over the particular actuating mechanism as when passing swiftly thereover. It will be noted that the latch I is released against the tension of spring i and that this spring permits movement of the said latch to again engage the gate, without movement of the remaining parts, particularly as the connection between the lateral arms 2" and the end of arm 7, is a flexible one. After each actuation of the gate, the operating parts 7 within either the stop or latch post are similarly returned to normal position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by virtue of theretractile coil spring G before mentioned.

It will thus be understood that through the simple and effective means shown and described, I am enabled to open and close the gate without the necessity of carrying any of the operatingparts upon the gate itself and that I am enabled to inclose these,

operating parts within the latch and stop posts for the sake of appearance as well as for the effective protection of these parts. In this connection it is to be noted that it is only necessary that the gate moving arms and the latch members project exteriorly.

Each of the roadside actuating mechanisms one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 5, includes a box J, embedded at the side of the road so that its top is substantially flush with the surface thereof, and provided with a cover J hinged thereto at oneend as at 7', said cover being preferably of sheet metal and provided with flanged sides j for purposes of added strength. Within the box thus disposed is pivoted a bell crank lever K, the upper free end of which carries a roller k in engagement with the under surfaces of the cover J and to the lower end of which is secured one of the flexible connections C and D Thus with reference to Fig. 4, a vehicle or pedestrian approaching in the direction of the arrow L and with the gate in closed position as shown in this figure, depresses the inclined hinged cover of themechanism C so as to release the free side of the gate A from the, latch post C and swing the same to the stop post D, in the manner before described and after proceeding through the gateway thus opened, depresses the hinged cover of the mechanism D in order to swing the gate again to closed position. The same operav tion takes place if approach is made from the opposite direction by first depressing the hinged cover of mechanism 0 and, after passage through the opened gateway, depressing the hinged cover ofthe mechanism D to again close-the gate.

An automatic gate constructed as I have shown and described mav be quickly and easily erected, will be highly effective in its use for the'purposes outlined, and will be strong and durable in addition to the fact that it is capable of use in connection with gates of various sizes and construction and permits of the use of the various types of posts.

I claim l. The combination with a swinging gate, of a spring strap secured at one end thereto, a post at the free side of the gate, a shaft j ournaled transversely through the post and projecting eXteriorly thereof through its side adjacent the side of the gate, an arm secured at its lower end to the said projecting shaft, and projecting upright along the said post side, the said arm having an upper angular extremity for engagement with the free portion of the said spring strap, and road-side means remote from the post and having connections with the said shaft and extending within the post whereby to rock the shaft and swing the said upright arm in order to move the free side of the gate away from the said post.

2. The combination with a swinging gate, aspring strap secured at one end to the free side of the gate, a post having a pair of transverse shafts journaled therethrough and provided with exteriorly projecting ends one above the other adjacent the free side of the gate, an upright arm secured at its lower end to the projecting end of the upper shaft and extending vertically along one side of the post and provided with an angular extremity at its upper end adapted to engage the free end portion of the said gate ing end of the lower shaft for engagement with the gate, said last named shaft having a lateral arm within the post and a spring connected to and depending from the said arm and secured at its lower end to the post,

an arm intermediately secured to the upper strap, a latch piece secured to the projectand swing the upright arm to move the gate away from the post,the latch member being movable, through the flexible connections of its shaft arm, independent of movement of the said upright arm and its shaft when engaging the gate.

3. The combination with a swinging gate, having a spring strap at one side of a post having a latch for engagement with the free side 01" the gate, a gate moving member carried by the post and movable to engage said gate strap and swing the gate away from the post before the latch is released, means located remote from the post and having connections with said gate moving member for moving the same, and connections between the latch and the said gate moving member whereby to release the former after initial movement of the latter.

4. The combination with a swinging gate, having a spring strap at its free side, of a post having a spring controlled latch for engagement with the said free side of the gate, a gate moving member carried by the post and movable to engage said spring strap be fore the latch is released, means located remote from the post andlhaving connections with said gate moving member for moving the same, and connections between the latch and the said gate moving member whereby to release the former during movement of the latter, said last named connections being flexible whereby the latch may move upon gate moving arm and disengaging the latch during such swinging movement of the said gate moving arm, and elastic means carried by the gate whereby to permit limited relative movement of the gate moving arm previous to the release of the latch.

'6. The combination with a swinging gate,

of a post having a latch for engagement with the free side of the gate, a gate moving arm carried also by the said post for swinging the gate away from the post when the latch is released, road-side means remote from, and on relatively opposite sides of, the post,

and each having connections therewith for disengaging the latch and swinging said gate moving arm and a movable spring member carried by the gate and with which said gate moving arm engages.

, ADRIAN WILLIAMSON. Witnesses:

A. MEAD WHEELER, WM. S. JACKSON,

THos. A. JAoKsoN, CALVIN F. SELFRIDGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

